Half
by LostintheLostWoods
Summary: Avyera is a young girl who was born half Hylian half Gerudo. This story is based off of the Gossip stone in Oot that says Gerudos had Hylian boyfriends. That got me thinking of how a child would be treated if they looked like both a Hylian and Gerudo instead of just Gerudo. Rated T just to be safe. It's my first story I hope you enjoy! :)
1. Chapter 1

My room feels cold, and damp. I hate cold. I hate damp things. I would rather be on a sun-baked desert than sleep in a room that felt like a giant block of ice. The only warm thing I can feel is the sun coming from my window. If only it was closer to my bed...

The sun that has so kindly given me heat tells me it's morning. I lazily roll out of my miserable excuse for a bed and rub the sleep out of my eyes. After I get enough of will power to actually move I head for the door.

Outside my bedroom there is a small space consisting of kitchen and living room (if you could call it that). I live with my uncle, though he is never around. I believe he goes down to a place called the milk bar every night. I hear him talk about it when he comes home, if I'm still awake. He comes back from this "milk bar" very late with a red face, and he acts all goofy, he gets so tired from it all he sleeps for most of the day. I asked him why he does all these things when he came home one day, he just said "You are too young to get it." in a very slurred voice.

We don't have much food in our house, only a bit of bread is what we have. I took a bit, but a very small bit, and headed outside. I lived in Hyrule Castle Town, right by the castle, where Princess Zelda lives. I have always wanted to meet her, she is my age, we could be friends. I've always wanted a friend, but nobody wants to. Maybe Princess Zelda would want to be my friend. She seems like she would be nice to me.

I don't know why nobody wants to talk to me. My uncle always said it was because "My mother was a damn Gerudo thief, and your father thought she was good lookin', but when you was born, neither o' them wanted ya, cuse you don't look like no Gerudo, but you don't look like no Hylian neither." he says that almost every time I ask him about most things, I'm starting to think it isn't true. I have no other explanation for having no friends, so I guess this will do.

Outside there was a lot of noise. There were dogs running around the fountain, and people in the market trying to buy things. There were a couple of children, but I knew none of them wanted to talk to me by the looks they gave me. Suddenly, a small boy in green with a fairy flying around him walked into the Town. The boy looked my age, and had blue eyes and Blonde hair, with a funny green hat sitting on top of it. He gave me a look, but not like the ones the other children gave me. He gave me this look of fascination and curiosity, but as I watched him, I noticed he gave that look to everything he saw, even the Cracks on the ground.

"_He must be from far far away to not understand what all of this is." _I thought to myself as I continued to watch him walk around in astonishment. _"Maybe he will be nice, maybe I should talk to him." _I wondered. I walked up to him and asked "Where did you come from?". He must not have seen me when I walked up to him, because when I talked to him he jumped a bit. He spun around and said "I'm from the forest, the Great Deku Tree sent me to see Princess Zelda." He sounded very proud of this 'Deku Tree', but I didn't know what that was. "I don't know what a Great Deku Tree is," I told him "but Princess Zelda is in the castle over there." I turned to face the castle and pointed in its direction to tell him which way to go. "Thank you for helping me, you have very nice eyes." He ran across the town to the Castle.I felt very happy when he said I had nice eyes, my golden eyes had always scared people.

I was so focused on the compliment he gave me that I forgot to tell him there were guards everywhere. I ran to catch up with him. He was standing beside a large tree, looking puzzled. When he saw me, he smiled a bit and walked towards me. " I can't get in" he sounded upset "There are big people that Navi told me are called guards. They won't let me in." He looked down to the ground, looking rather sad. "Who's Navi?" I asked him. This time, the little white fairy spoke. "That would be me!" She said in a high pitch voice. "I'm Links fairy, my job is to help him on his journey." "Your name is Link?" I asked the boy. He nodded and asked me for my name. " My name is Avyera." I told him. he looked at me and said "Avyera, can you tell me how to get to Princess Zelda?" I thought very hard about this, I wanted to help him, he was nice. I looked around the trail we were on. I saw some vines growing on the side of a hill. It looked like I could use that as a rope, so I climbed it. On top I could see that there was a way to get past the gate and maybe avoid the guards.

When I climbed back down, Link was staring at me, wondering if I was going to answer his question. "If you can climb that vine over there, you can get past the gate." I told him, feeling very smart at the moment. "There will be more guards over the gate, so be careful." He smiled at me and started to climb the vine. when he reached the top he thanked me for my help and ran off.

I liked this Link boy. He was very nice to me. Nobody was nice to me. I felt like he knew how I felt, I think maybe he felt as alone and lost and out of place as I did. Seeing that confused yet curious look on his face reminded me of myself. That's why I like this Link boy.


	2. Chapter 2

It has been a while since I have seen link. After I told him how to see Princess Zelda, I saw him leaving the town with a scary looking woman with red eyes. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but the lady scared me. That was the last time I have seen him in a while. To be honest, I miss him, but I'm not sure why.

Uncle woke up around noon today, he had been to the milk bar again. I told him about the nice boy named Link whom I had met. His reply was to push me down then he started yelling things like "You slut, you slept with him didn't ya?" or "Just like your mother." I don't know what he ment, but I know it scared me. He had hit me before, and it was usually when he had come back from the milk bar. Sometimes he is funny, other times he is mean to me. I noticed he was still acting like he just came back from the bar, slurred voice and clumsy movements.

I waited a very long time for Link to come back, hoping that he would. After a couple of days I was thinking he left forever, and he was the only person who will ever talk to me like that again. After a week I thought that maybe he was a ghost or he wasn't real.

Just when I was about to stop looking, there Link was, just walking into town. I waved at him to get his attention, and when he noticed me he came running towards me, Navi flying a bit behind. "Where were you all this time? I never got to say goodbye." I said in a slightly disappointed voice. "I know Avyera, but I'm on a quest to save the world!" he sounded so enthusiastic. He told me about Princess Zelda, how beautiful she was, he told me about her dream and about Ganondorf. "He is the King of the Gerudos!" Link said, so exited about his tale. I stopped him before he could go on. "My uncle says my mother was a Gerudo." I told him. "Does that make me a bad guy?" I think he heard the worry in my voice, as he quickly reasured me I was not. "Just because you are both Gerudo, doesn't mean you are both bad." I nodded my head in aggreement and he went on with his story.

He told me he had to collect these things called 'Spiritual Stones', and he had to get them from all over the world. He had just gotten the 'Spiritual Stone of Fire' from these people called the Gorons. "They are these giant rock people who live on death mountian!" Navi said. "I thought they were going to eat me!" Link and I giggled at that comment. "So why are you back here? Don't you have another stone thing you have to get? This sounds really important." I asked Link. He looked down at the ground, his face had gone all red. "I-I...I wanted to see you." He stammered.

He wanted to see **me**? That suprised me. I asked him if he was joking, he shook his head nervously. Navi started to tease him "Link liiiiiiiiiiiiikes you Avyera! He **like **likes you!" Navi flew around his head. "Shut up Navi, no I don't!" Link insisted. I laughed at this, for it was pretty funny. We all started laughing. When we finally calmed down, Link showed me what he had got from the 'Dodongo's Cavern' which was apparently the place he got the Fire Stone from. He told me they were bombs, but they looked like giant blueberries to me. "Lemme show you how they work!" He grabbed my arm and we went passed the drawbridge to Hyrule field.

I had hardly been out of the town, only to pick up milk from Lon Lon Ranch. He led me to the side of the town, were there was a couple of trees, but mostly empty feild. He placed a bomb on the ground and lit the bit of something that sticks out from the bomb, and told me to back up. As the 'fuse' (Link has told me it the bit on the end is called that) got closer to the bomb, my heart started to race. The bomb suddenly exploded, and I screamed from suprise and laughed from excitement. "I used these to kill a giant Dodongo, he and the other Dodongos were making it so the Gorons couldn't eat the rocks there, so I killed them all." He told me with pride. "You killed them ALL?" I was astonished. "That's right Avyera! I'm a hero!" He held out his sword and posed for me. Navi and I giggled. "You're so silly, Link!" Navi told him as she flew to my shoulder "Doncha think so, Avyera?" I nodded and said "Very." We all laughed

That whole day we played tag in hyrule field. It was so fun. When the sun was about to set, we lied down in the grass watching the sunset. "Link, are you my friend?" I asked him, I had never had a friend, I didn't know what it was like to have one. "Of course." He looks at me with kind eyes "I'll always be your friend, Avyera."

I have never forgotten those words, or that day. That day made me feel some kind of...joy. It was strange, I don't even know if it is joy I'm feeling, it's just the only thing I can think of to describe it. When it was nighttime he told me he had to go to a place called 'Zora's Domain' to get a Water Stone thing. He promised me he would come back as soon as he had found the stone and tell me all about his adventure. That night I felt so happy I couldn't sleep, I even heard Uncle come home, knocking things down when he walked in.


	3. Chapter 3

Just after Link left, I started thinking. I had concluded that I would join him. I know he had only one stone to go, and he was probably just about to get it, but I wanted to go with him. Either it be he goes home to his forest or stays in Hyrule, I didn't care. I wanted to be with him. I hoped he would feel the same.

One night, just after Uncle had gone to the milk bar again, I headed to find Link. He said he was going to a place called Zoras Domain, so my best guess was to go there. I didn't know where it was, but Uncle had told me the Zoras were fish people, so I thought that they would be near water. Outside town there was a river. I decided to follow the river and see where it took me. Were there is water, there was bound to be fish people.

I reached a gate with two rocks in front of it. They weren't blocking the way, so I walked through them. I wonder if Link had been here? I wonder if there were more rocks in front of that gate and he blew them up with his cool blueberry bombs. As if on cue, I saw Link running down towards where I was standing, and stopped right when he saw me.

"Avyera, what are you doing here? How did you find Zora's River?" He asked me, looking quite confused. I told him my plan, and he smiled from joy. "I would love that Avyera!" The smile he had on his face was now a gigantic grin from ear to ear. "Wouldn't it be dangerous for Avyera, Link? There are really big monsters here." Navi pointed out. "I'll just teach her how to use the slingshot, then she can help by shooting the monsters!" Link seemed to be very happy with my plan, I was glad he did want me to join him, it ment that he really did like me.

As we headed back to town, he told me about Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly and Princess Ruto who he was now 'engadged' to. "Engaged means to get married, Link." I explained to him, for he didn't know what that ment. "It's like having a girlfriend forever." Link didn't seem to like this idea, because he scrunched up his face. "I don't wanna get married! I don't wanna girlfriend! I REALLY don't wanna have Ruto be my girlfriend forever! She's mean!" He stubbornly insisted.

"It's a princess, Link, you can't say no to a princess!" I tried to convince him, but he kept insisting he did not want to. "Besides, I'm never going to be old enough for that, because I'm a Kokiri, we don't grow up." I was about to say something when we both heard something coming from the town. it sounded like horses, wich made us nervous. there was no reason for horses to be riding around in the town. "Avyera, I have a bad feeling about this." Link said nervously. "Could you please go hide somewhere until I say it's safe?" He sounded so serious, I couldn't say no. I jumped into the moat right underneath were the drawbridge would go down, Link nodded at me as if to say that was a good hiding spot.

There was a thunderstorm, so the water was very cold. I felt nervous in the water, I wasn't a very good swimmer." _As long as I keep afloat, or find something to hold on to, I should be fine" _ I told myself. I don't just hate cold and wet, I'm scared of it too.

Out of nowhere, the drawbridge slowly dropped down, I could hear horses on the other side. I heard the shake of a horses feet on the drawbridge. Link shouted "Zelda!". Was that Zelda that was on the horse? I wanted to know so badly, but Link had told me to stay down here, and that's what I would do. Something landed in the water right near where I was, I couldn't see what it was. Suddenly I heard another horse over the drawbridge. This one stopped right after the bridge, and I heard Link gasp.

"Arrrrgh! I lost her!" I heard a voice say. The voice sounded mean, and scary. Was this person chasing Princess Zelda? I couldn't think of anyone who would hate Princess Zelda, why would anybody chase her? "You, over there! Little kid!" I assumed he was talking to Link, at this point I feared for his life, this man did not seem safe. Even if Link was a hero who killed big monsters, I was still afraid for reasons I'm not sure of. "You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now...Which way did it go?! Answer me!" Link took a while to reply but finally said "I will never tell you where they went." He sounded so confident, I was impressed at how brave he was. "So, you think you can protect them from me...You've got guts, kid."

"I'll protect them even if it means fighting you!" I heard Link pull out his sword _"please be careful, Link. Please, please, please don't get hurt." _ I had never been so scared in my life. "Heh heh heh... You want a piece of me?! Very funny! I like your attitude!" The man sounded so condescending it almost made me more angry than scared. Then I heard a strange warping type sound. I heard something shoot, and then I heard Link scream. I had to put a hand in front of my mouth to keep me from making noise. _"Link, don't be hurt, please Link."_

"Pathetic little fool! Do you realize who you are dealing with?!" The man said, he sounded so proud of himself, it made me sick. "I am Ganondorf! And soon, I will rule the world!" _"Ganondorf, that's the man Link told me about! Oh gods, protect Link!" _I heard the sound of Ganondorf galloping off.

As soon as the sound of hooves could be heard no more, Link told me I could get out. he had to help me out of the water, as I said, I'm not a good swimmer. "That was Ganondorf?" I asked him in a trembling voice. I was trembling partly from the cold, and partly form being so scared. "Yeah" He said, sounding worried. "He is really dangerous." "He killed the Great Deku Tree, Put evil monsters in Dodongos Cavern, and infected Lord Jabu-Jabu!" Navi sounded enraged, as enraged as that high-pitched voice could sound. "I don't think it's safe for Avyera, Link." I think Link knew she was right, judging by the look on his face. "But I wanted to travel with Avyera." Link was so distraught. "I'll wait in my house until you know that I will be safe, then you can come get me!" I hoped that cheered him up, and I think it did a little. He nodded in agreement.

"What do I do now?" Link wondered. We all thought for a very long time. Then I remembered the thing that had fallen in the water. "There was something that fell in the water, Link!" Links long ears perked up, he ran and jumped into the moat. I watched him swim down and grab something blue from the water.

When Link reached the surface, he had a dazed look in his eyes. "Link, what did you get?" Navi asked him. Link didn't reply, he only stared out into space. After a while I asked "Are you okay, Link?" He didn't answer, only stared. "Let's get him to shore! There's something wrong!" Navi told me to grab him and pull him up. He was lighter than I had expected to be, but then again, he was a very small boy. He was only 9, like me. I laid him on the ground, trying to figure out what was wrong. I don't know if this was my imagination or not, but I swore I saw a tear in his eye.

Soon, he finally woke up. "What happened? Are you okay Link?" I asked him, I was so worried about him, it made me shiver more than I already was. "Yeah I'm okay." He reassured me. "I got the Ocarina of Time. Navi, we need to go to the Temple of Time and protect the Triforce." I remember the story of the Goddesses and the Triforce, but why he needed to protect it, I didn't kow. He turned to me and said "I can't explain now, but I will come get you when it's safe, okay Avyera?" I nodded. I felt very sad, I couldn't say why. Maybe it was because of how scared I still was, maybe it was because Link was leaving me again. Either way, it was hard to hold back tears.

Link gave me a hug and said " I won't forget about you, Avyera." He made me feel so happy with those words. "Avyera is such a mouthful, isn't it? Would you like a nickname?" I think this was his way of cheering me up, for I think he knew how upset I was. "I have never ad a nickname before." I replied. "Okay Avyera, from now on, you will be known as Avy to me and Navi!" Navi flew around me and giggled. "Avy..." I said "I like it, it's cute!" I smiled at him. Him trying to cheer me up was working. "A-A very cute name..." he stuttered "For a very cute girl." We both blushed.

Link walked me back to my house, and he hugged me goodbye. As he ran for the temple, I couldn't help but still feel sad. I felt as if I wasn't going to see him for a while. I hated that thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Seven years. It has been seven years since I've seen him. He didn't come to get me. Did he forget about me? Is he dead? I worry about him every day.  
In those seven years, Ganondorf has taken over. He is unstoppable, all-powerful, as I've heard. He killed my uncle. Not that I care too much, I still miss him, but I don't miss the abuse. I managed to escape, a couple ofsurvivors and I now live in Kakariko Village. It's strange, I thought we would all be cramped in this small village, but because Ganondorf has killed all of them, there is more than enough room for everybody. It feels so empty.  
Ever since Ganondorf had taken over, my life was worse than when I lived with Uncle. They all treated me like I was Ganondorf. To them I might as well be, I was part Gerudo, half of me was supposed to be on Ganondorfs side. They didn't let me in stores, I couldn't go out on the streets without someone sending a racist comment my way. It wasn't just them who hated me,_ I_ hated me.  
If I wasn't already upset enough, the man how did this to my life is a Gerudo. _I'm_ a Gerudo. I had thought for a while that when I grew up, I would join them, but now, they are the enemy. Does that make me the enemy? _"Just because you are both Gerudo, doesn't mean you are both bad."_ Links voice rang in my head. I wanted nothing more than him to be right, but the other villagers didn't think so. I didn't know who to agree with anymore, I wanted to be a Gerudo, I thought that they would be the only people who respected me, but should I forget everything that they have done to me and Link and Uncle and Princess Zelda and...oh gods so many people. I can't forget that. but if I don't, this could be my life forever...  
Because nobody wants to see me, I live were Dampé the gravekeeper used to live. He lived in the graveyard, obviously, so I'm not near many people. It makes it a little harder to steal food when you're far away from all of it, it takes longer to run back. I have to steal food because nobody will let me in to any stores, and since I know nothing about hunting, stealing it is the next best thing. I don't think I feel as bad as I should, but those people deserve it.  
One day I was up on the rooftops, I have practiced my parkour, I'm quite good at jumping to building to building. It helps when you have to run away. I sat down and looked at the town from above. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a boy dressed in green. "_Could it be Link? Or could it be that my mind is playing tricks on me again?"_ I turned my head and low and behold, it was Link.  
I couldn't belive it. It was him. I climbed down and hid behind a building. Was it really him? I had a feeling it wasn't, maybe he was a ghost. He looked older, he had grown up. How can that be? He was a Kokiri. Maybe it really wasn't him. I stepped out of my hiding spot and built up the courage to say "Link? Is that you?" I was afraid it wasn't him, I was afraid the villagers would hurt me again, most of all I was nervous that it really was him, and he didn't come to find me because he hated me.  
He turned around. I saw Navi with him too, she flew towards me "It's Avy, Link! She's alive!" I almost burst into tears when she said that, it took all my strength to hold it in. "Avy." He whispered. He came running to me, arms out in front of him. He held me close, I could feel the tears from his face drop on my shoulder. This is when I realized I was crying too.  
"Were did you go?" I managed to say, I was sobbing now, it was hard to speak. "Were did you go?" I kept saying to him. He said nothing, I could feel his back moving up and down from his crying. We held each other for a long time, until I heard a villager come out from his home. I knew it wasn't a good idea for us to stay here, so I let go of him, grabbed his hand, and ran to the graveyard. I closed the door when we were all inside. Navi flew beside me "Avy, we wanted to find you." Her voice sounded shaky, she had cried too."We-" "Lemme tell her, Navi" Link interrupted.  
Link then told me that when he went to the Temple of Time, he had to open the Door of Time with the Ocarina of Time and the Spiritual Stones. He then pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, it was the sword of evils bane, he was to slay Ganondorf with it. But when he pulled out the sword, Ganondorf had got the Triforce. "The Temple of Time is a gateway to the Sacred Realm." He explained "That's were the Triforce is, but Ganondorf knew I was going to break the seal the Master sword held on the sacred realm, so when I broke the seal that the Master Sword held, he went to get the Triforce." "That's why he's so powerful." I muttered. Link nodded and continued. He told me the only way to stop him was with the help of the Six Sages, who were to be awakened. "The first one is in the forest, where I grew up." Link sounded both nervous and exited at the mention of his home. "But first I have to find an item that's supposed to me here. In this village."

I had to sit down to process all of this. "But...why didn't you come to get me?" I thought I was going to cry again, but I held back the tears. Link sat beside me. He put his arm around me. This made my heart race, and I couldn't help but smile. "The sage Rauru was in the sacred realm. When I entered, he sealed me in the Chamber of Sages for seven years, I wasn't ready to be the Hero of Time. That's why I couldn't get you, Avy. I wanted to, I really did." He then put both his arms around me to embrace me. "When I saw what had happened to Castle Town, I thought you were dead." His voice got shaky again. "I-I-I thought..." We hugged each other again, listening to the sounds of our sobbing. Navi came in and joined the hug too, I could hear the tiny sobs coming from her.  
When we had all calmed down, he asked me how I escaped. I told him I'm pretty damn fast, and very sneaky when I want to be. He smiled at me. "I missed you." He said to me, blushing. I blushed back and said "I missed you too." We stared at each other for a long time, my heart was racing, why did I get so nervous around him? We leaned in a bit closer, for a second I thought he may kiss me...  
Navi interrupted the moment. " Hey Avy," She asked "Do you know anything about an item that would help us here?" Link looked disappointed when I backed away. "Well I don't know." I replied. We all sat there, thinking for a long time. Then I remembered Dampé the gravekeeper. I remember something about him being buried with a treasure. I told Link this, and he grinned. "That could be it." So we headed out to Dampés grave. "This is the one." I told them as I pointed to a grave on the left side of the graveyard. Link pulled the grave back, and it revealed a hole underneath it. We all looked at each other, then without saying a word, we headed down.  
Inside it was very ominous looking. there was blue pillars holding up the ceiling (which was technically the ground) and a large arch in front of us. As we walked forward, there floating just before the arch, was Dampés ghost. Link touched my shoulder as if to say 'wait here' and went ahead. "Heh heh heh, young man! Are you fast on your feet?" The ghost asked Link. "I would like to think so." He replied "I may not look like it, but I'm confident in my speed! Let's have a race! Follow me if you dare! Dampé said. Before Link had a chance to say no, he was off, and Link had no choice but to race him.  
That left me and Navi alone to wait for him. "He really likes you, Avy." Navi told me. "He REALLY likes you." I blushed. " Do you think so?" I didn't really believe her. "All he could do was talk about you and look for you when we came back to Hyrule." She told me. Something in her tone made me believe her."Why would he like me?" I asked her. Navi flew to sit on my shoulder. "Who wouldn't?" She said. I smiled in thanks.  
After a while Link came down the hole we had came from. He looked disappointed. "I didn't beat him." He said. I smiled and offered to challenge him myself. Link looked skeptical, but agreed. I walked up to the deceased gravekeeper and said "May I challenge you to a race as well?" Dampé look pleased. "As I told your friend, I'm confident in my speed!" And he flew off. I ran straight ahead of him. Twisting and turning all around the maze, and ended up in a room with a large chest in the middle.  
Dampé came shortly after. "The time of this race was 00"00"32! Hehehe, young woman... you are very quick to keep up with me! Hehehe!" I didn't just keep up with him, I totally beat him by a long shot, but I wasn't about to make a ghost angry at me, especially since I was living in his house. "As a reward, I'm going to give you my treasure. It's called the Hookshot! Its spring-loaded chain will pull you to any spot where its hook sticks. Doesn't that sound cool? I'm sure it will help you!" I bowed in thanks. "I live here now, so come back again sometime. I'll give you something cool!" I told him that I would gladly see him in the future. "One more thing! Be careful on your way back! Hehehe..." He disappeared. I opened the chest to find the Hookshot Dampé talked about. Now to get out of here.  
I went the only way available to me, the door right in front of me. The door I had come from was locked, so this was my only way. Inside there was a large step I had to climb over, but after the step was some stairs leading to the windmill. I entered the windmill and I could hear the man playing the song he always plays 'Dahdah, dah DAH!Dahdah, dah DAH! Dah dah DAH dah dah DAH! dah dahdahdahdahdahdah." I sang the song in my head. It was catchy. When I exited, I headed straight for the grave again, to find Link and Navi. They had gotten out of the grave and were standing at the entrance of the graveyard, waiting for me.  
I had a smug look on my face "This what you are looking for?" I asked as I tossed him the hookshot. "This must be the item that Sheik talked about!" Navi exclaimed. "Thank you so much, Avy." Link said as he walked towards me to give me a hug. "You're welcome." My welcome was muffled my face being in his chest, he was a lot taller than me. "I...I'm afraid I have to leave now." Link sounded so upset. "I'm sorry to leave you again, but I have to do this on my own." I nodded. "I understand, as long as you come back." We hugged again, but for a shorter amount of time. I turned to Navi and said "You keep an eye on him, alright Navi?" "It's my job Avy!" She said. I watched them leave the graveyard, feeling nervous they would get hurt. What if this was too dangerous? What if Link died? I couldn't sleep that night because of these thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

I've got rather comfortable here, in Kakariko Village. As long as I don't bother the other villagers, they don't bother me. Of course I still have to steal things, but they never catch me, so lately the villagers have left me alone. You can imagine my confusion when I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, there stood Link, Navi flying beside him. Link looked worried. "Hey Avy." He said casually. "You're okay!" I was so glad he was. Link smiled at the ground. "Navi, wait here." Link said to her as he walked inside. "But-" Link cut her off by shutting the door before she could say anything. "What's this all about?" I asked him, wondering why he hadn't let Navi in. "I wanted to talk to you, just the two of us." We sat down and he took a deep breath. "When I went to the forest...they had all forgotten me." Link sounded as if he might cry. "Your Kokiri friends?" Link nodded in reply. "I've grown up, and they haven't. They don't know who I am." I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's as if I've lost all my friends. And to make matters worse, Saria was the forest sage, I'll never get to see her again." He put his head on my lap. " They're all gone. They've all left me, no, I left them." I couldn't think of anything to say, so I stroked his hair while he talked. " I mean its not like I asked for this, I never asked for this! I just want my friends, I want Saria back!" I felt something strange every time he said he missed Saria. It was some kind of anger. Was this jealousy? Why was I jealous of Saria? "This is all because of my damn mother!" He shouted. I don't remember him ever saying anything about Kokiri having parents. "Mother?" I asked him. He sighed and said. "I'm not a Kokiri, I'm Hylian." As shocked as I was, it made sense. Kokiri don't grow up, so for Link to be full-grown he would have to be Hylian. Link told me about how his mother was a Hylian who was alive when Hyrule was at war, before the King united the land together. She was about to die, so she entrusted her son to the Deku Tree. Because the Deku Tree could sence that this was the child of legend, he agreed to raise him. His mother died shortly after. "Link..." I said, trying to find words to comfort him. "You shouldn't feel alone, you have Navi and me, right?" "Yeah, I do." Link agreed. "I just...I just want to be normal. I don't want to save the world, I don't want to go adventuring, I want to be a regular Hylian boy in Market Town." I sighed, trying to find the right words. "So the problem is, you were forced into this, and because of it, all of your friends can't remember you?" He nodded. "Link, when this is all over, everyone will remember you for ages, you will be known as the boy who saved Hyrule. Nobody will ever forget you or what you did. Everyone will remember the Hero Of Time and how he sacrificed his chance at a normal life for everyone." I pulled his face up so I could look him in the eye. "I know it's hard now, I know. But when you are done this quest, the reward will be more than you have ever wanted." He smiled at me, I smiled back. "Do you really think so, Avy?" "I know so, fairy boy." We laughed for a bit, and then he stood up. "Come on, I have something to show you." He took my arm and we headed to Hyrule feild. On the way, the villagers yelled things at us, mostly wondering why Link was with me. I had learned to ignore it, but Link seemed irked by it. "Why are they so mean to you, Avy?" Navi asked me. "Why do you think?" I said. When we had got out to Hyrule field, there at the bottom of the steps was a beautiful red horse. I was taken back at its beauty, I've seen a horse before, but not like this one. Its mane, hooves, and tail were all white, such strange colours for a horse. I was in awe at it's beautifully decorated saddle that lay across it's back. "Her name is Epona." Link told me how an old friend who lived in Lon Lon Ranch is kept prisoner at the ranch. She want's to leave, but if she does, the man now running the ranch, , will treat the horses badly. "I thought I would do her a favor and get her favorite horse out of there." Link explained. "How did you manage to do that?" I asked him "I...borrowed it." He lied. "You mean you stole it!" Navi corrected him. Link rolled his eyes and turned to me. "Would you like to ride her?" He asked me. I nodded, very exited. Just before I was about to mount Epona, Link stopped me. "She's a very untrusting horse." He explained. "You have to play this melody to get even remotely close to her." He pulled out his Ocarina, and played a song. The moment he finished Epona went galloping towards him. "See? now you try." I sang the song he had just played. This time, she came running to me, and I climbed on her. Link taught me how to ride a horse, then let me ride by myself once I got the hang of it. I made gallop across the field. I could feel the wind blowing in my dark red hair as Epona gained speed. It was the best thing I have ever felt. After I felt it I had enough riding for one day, I came back to Link and Navi. "Gods, that was amazing!" Link smiled at me and said "I thought you might like it." As he helped me off my horse. Link then took out what he had told me he got from the Forest Temple, a bow and arrow. I had always wanted to use one, I knew the Gerudo took pride in the skill of horseback riding and archery. I think Link knew how badly I wanted to learn, so he taught me how. He set up little mini targets, and told me to try to shoot them. At first it was hard, but with Links help, I eventually could get a bullseye each time I shot. "Damn, you're a quick learner!" He said to me. I blushed. "Thanks." I said. After we were finished practicing archery and horseback, it was nighttime. "It's getting late." Said Link. "I should probably head to Death Mountain. Have you seen the scary clouds above it?" I had, they worried me. "That means there is something wrong up there!" Explained Navi. "And it's my job to fix it!" Said Link. We both walked back to the entrance to Death Mountain. "So this is goodbye for now, eh?" I asked. "I guess so." He said. Before Link left, he just stood there, staring at his feet and fidgeting. He looked nervous, so I asked him what was wrong. "I...uh..." He stuttered. Then, he went up to me and kissed me on the forehead. I blushed, and I felt a strange knot in my stomach. As soon as he kissed me, he ran up the trail, as if he was running away from me. Navi flew to catch up, but turned around and yelled "Bye, Avy!" I waved back, Hoping for their safe return.


	6. Chapter 6

I couldn't stop thinking about that horse. Epona was beautiful, and all I wanted to do was ride her again. I decided to go to Lon Lon Ranch and see if I could get my horse, since I wasn't going to see Epona anytime soon. It wasn't as good as riding Epona, but at least I could ride a horse again. I loved the feeling of it.

At night, when nobody could see me, I snuck out to Hyrule field. When I got to Lon Lon Ranch, it was still night, so I had to wait until it opened in the morning. I fell asleep while waiting, and had the most peculiar dream. I dreamt that I was back in Castle Town, everything was back to the way it used to be before Ganondorf took over, before all of this. I wasn't 9 years old though, I was sixteen, like I am now. I dreamt that me and a Gerudo woman were talking, in my dream I referred to her as my mother. The scene changed to something different, Link and I were in Kakariko Village, and we were the couple, Honey and Darling, that cuddle behind the windmill. We called each other Honey and Darling, just as they do, and spin and cuddle as they do. That's when I woke was almost morning, the moon was about to set.

_"Gods, how stupidly cheesy"_ I thought to myself. I don't know what to think of this dream, it made me feel that knot in my stomach, like when Link kissed me before he left for Death Mountain. It confused me why, which really annoyed me. I hate it when I'm confused. I tried to forget it and headed for the ranch, it was now open.

In the ranch, there was two buildings on either side of a path,_ "No horses yet."_ I thought to myself. I went down the pathway to find a bunch of horses, contained in a large circle of fence. Standing in front of the entrance, was a tall man, a very slender man. He had a bald spot on his head, with crooked eyebrows and a crooked mustache. He wore fancy clothing, suggesting he was of importance. I walked up to him and said "I would like a horse." "And what makes you so damn special?" He asked me in the most condescending voice I've heard. "I am the great Ingo! Nobody talks to me like that!" Ingo, that was the man who Link said had taken over the ranch. "Wait a minute, you don't look right..." He glared at me. "You look like a Gerudo! Oh Gods, forgive me. Are you here for the Great Ganondorf?" I almost forgot I was a Gerudo. _"He thinks because I am part Gerudo, I work for Ganondorf! Sometimes being related to the asshole has its perks I guess."_ I decided to play along with his little game and see if he would give me a horse.

"Y-Yes! I am here for the...Great Ganondorf! His...Highness requests your finest horse." I lied. It was hard, saying this man was so great when I hated every bone in his body. "Oh! F-F-Forgive me miss!" he bowed. " You may choose any of these horses, M'Lady." And he opened the gate for me. I stepped in, now having confidence because of my successful lie. "Are these all your horses?" I asked him. "Yes, M'Lady." He bowed again. I looked at all the horses, none of them compared to Epona. I should have expected as much, there wasn't anything like that horse.

"I'm sorry M'Lady, the horse I had planned for the great Ganondorf has...been misplaced." He stuttered. He must be talking about Epona _"Link you sly fox you."_ I smiled to myself. "He will be very displeased to hear that." I said in the coldest way possible. "Ah..uh..but miss! There is so many other suitable horses for his greatness!" Such a silly man he was. I looked to my right, there was a horse who looked darker in colour than the rest. She had dark hooves and a dark tail and mane of the same colour, and a brown body. She had a golden saddle on top of her, it wasn't as fancy as Eponas, but still very nice.

"This one will do." I told him. "Uh...yes Ma'am!" He bowed again and led the horse over to me. "Does she have a name?" I asked him. "N-No M'Lady." He replied. I mounted the horse with no name, and trotted around for a while, to see if I liked her. "Yes, the great Ganondorf will be pleased with this one." I said. Ingo sighed with relief, and led me out of the ranch. "I am glad you think so, M'Lady." Once I had left the ranch, I started to think of a name to give to her. As I slowly rode around Hyrule field, I thought very hard about what name. I would call her this all the time, it has to be special._ "Farore was the Goddess that gave us life, perhaps I should name my horse after her"_ And thus, my horse was named Farore. Part of me was the race closest to the Gods, it seemed only fitting to name her after one.

I had finally got a horse, it felt so nice to ride freely around Hyrule, just me, Farore, and my thoughts. Once I felt I was done riding her around, I decided to head back to Kakariko, to see if Link was back yet. I dismounted Farore and tied her to the tree that was near the entrance to the town and walked in. Just as I had thought, there was Link, wandering around the town. I walked up to him and asked "Looking for something?" He turned around and smiled when he saw it was me. "Yes, I was looking for you, where were you?" Without saying a word, I grabbed his hand and led him out to where I had left Farore. "I got her from Lon Lon Ranch!" I told him. I explained to him how I got her, and his face told me he was very impressed.

"I named her Farore." I said. "Farore..." Link echoed. "I like it!" He smiled at me. "I like it too!" Navi chimed in. Link told me about his adventure with the Gorons, how they were being sacrificed to Volvagia. He told me about the Megaton Hammer, and Darunia being the Fire Sage. I'm glad he wasn't as upset as he was the last time he awakened a sage, I didn't like it when he was sad. "He named his son after me you know." Link told me. "Darunia was so thankful for me saving his people seven years ago, he named his son after me!" He seemed so happy, I think he was realizing what he was going for this world, and how much he is helping people. "I'm so glad you are making such a difference, Link." We smiled at each other, then Navi ruined the moment again. "Okay kids, break it up!" She said "We can make out after Link saves the world, alright?" I saw Link blush, it was then I realized I was blushing too. "Shut up, Navi." Link said. We said our goodbyes and Link headed to Zora's domain, they had felt a cold wind coming from there.


	7. Chapter 7

I missed the archery. Ever since Link had showed me how to use a bow and arrow and ride horseback I wanted to combine the two. I wanted to shoot an arrow from my horse while riding faster than anything. There was only one problem to my dream; a bow an arrow.

At night I tried stealing some from the shooting gallery, but there wasn't any there. To think a shooting gallery wouldn't have bows and arrows. That left the only other decision, to make my own.

I have an excellent memory, I can remember what the colour of your shirt was three weeks ago. The problem wasn't remembering what the bow looked and felt like, the problem was that it was so tedious. I sat down in my rented house and thought about what Links bow looked like. It was a piece of wood, with a cord attached to it, making the wood bend. The arrow had a piece of sharp something on the end of a long stick, with feathers on the end. I knew I wouldn't make it just like his, because that one was expertly made, but at least mine would hopefully function properly.

I found a long stick in the graveyard and stripped it of its bark. The stick was free of knots or anything that would get in the way, it was perfectly smooth. I then stole some string from one of the villagers. I wrapped it around the stick as tight as I could, making the stick pull back. It was looking like a bow. I tested the elasticity on the string, it was working like a bow too.

The arrows were a little tricky. It took me weeks to finish them. I first had to make sure the sticks were straight, they had to be perfectly balanced, or they wouldn't work. I then took some rocks and sharpened them so they were equal in balance on both sides, which took me very long to do. I plucked some feathers from the Cucco Lady's Cuccos when she wasn't looking, and attached them to the sticks. After a couple of weeks it was finally ready. I had my first bow and arrow.

The moment I finished it, I ran out to Farore and got ready to ride. At first, shooting targets made from trees and rocks were hard to hit, I couldn't stand still and shoot. After a long time, I was an expert at shooting.

All of this made me miss Link. It made me miss the days when I could walk around freely, when I could eat three times a day, I missed Uncle a bit too. I couldn't walk around because everyone thought I was working for Ganondorf, I couldn't eat because nobody would sell me food, which had made me skinnier than I already was. This was all because of Ganondorf, I hated him more than ever.

My nostalgia trip made me want to go to Castle Town, to see the damage that had been done. I dismounted Farore, gave her a carrot I stole for her, and headed in. The drawbridge was broken, but not unusable. I walked inside the gloomy looking arch that once lead to my home, and what I saw made me want to cry. The trees were dead, there was no longer green grass under them. The whole atmosphere screamed death. When I walked further, it was ever more terrifying.

Everything was broken. The houses, the fountain, everything. The sky was darker, and worse of all, Redeads. There are four things I'm afraid of; water, extreme cold, heights, and anything undead. When I saw the Redeads sitting there, I froze. I couldn't think of what to do, I couldn't run away, I was paralyzed in fear. I finally got the courage to move once a Redead slowly shuffled towards me. I ran as fast as I could, into a door right beside the drawbridge. Why I didn't just run out-of-town, get on Farore and ride away I don't know, I was too terrified to think.

Inside this door, there was a small man at the back of the room. He sat on a mattress, above him was a cage full of what looked like spirits. I couldn't see his face, it was covered in a purple cloak. All I could see was a big red shining circle where his face should be. He held a staff in his hand, and he had a tattered robe on, held up by a waistband with the Triforce in the middle.

I walked up to this strange man and he said "Oh...you are an energetic young woman." I had run in here so quickly I must have given the impression of that. "You're a little wimpy, but a pretty one. Heh heh heh." Just before I could say anything, the man chuckled "Your name is Avyera, isn't it?" I was shocked at the fact he knew my name. "How did you-" "Heh heh he...don't be surprised. I can read people's minds." I had a hard time believing he really could, but I had no other explanation for how he knew that, so I went along with it. By this time I was so confused by this man, I had calmed down.

"If I looked as good as you, I could run a different kind of business...heh he heh..." He said. I don't know what he meant by this, but something in his laugh told me it wasn't pleasant. "What do you mean by tha-" "My shop is the only ghost shop in Hyrule." He cut me off. I was annoyed by this, but I decided to let it pass. "Because of the great Ganondorf, it is a fine time for a business like this...heh heh heh. Oh...I only hope the world gets even worse!" _"oh great, another one of Ganondorf's fangirls."_ I thought to myself. Just at that moment, I remembered he could read minds, which worried me. If he really could though, he paid no attention to my thought, thank the Goddesses.

"The ghosts, called Poes, are spirits of concentrated hatred that appear in the fields or graveyard. They hate the world!" As I said before, I was afraid of undead things, but not ghosts. They were different, in ways I can't explain why. I lived in a graveyard, I had to be okay with ghosts. "Young woman, if you catch a Poe, I will pay a lot of money for it... Heh he hee!" His laugh was wheezy and sounded painful. I don't know what I would do with money, nobody would accept if I asked them if I could buy something. But perhaps Link could find some use of this, he could use the money. I told him I would do my best, and hurried out of the town, I did not want any Redeads to chase me.

After I had left town, and after I checked behind me multiple times to see if there were any Redeads behind me, I mounted Farore and trotted off. I headed for Zora's Domain, looking for Link, just as I had done seven years earlier. It had occurred to me that Link had been gone for a long time, and I was getting worried he was in trouble. Just as I was about to enter, Link came walking out._ "déjà vu."_ I thought to myself.

Link was wearing a different tunic than the regular green one, this time it was blue. He was soaking wet as well, and his facial expression reminded me of an angry cat. "Link, are you okay?" I asked him. He stared up at me. "The Water Temple, Avy. The goddamn Water Temple." I gave him a look of confusion, and he started his story. "Well, Zora's Domain is frozen over, so I have to save them and crap. I go to the Water Temple to break the curse on Zora's Domain and free the Water Sage, but I didn't know that it was the most difficult thing I would ever do in my life.

"I couldn't find anything, Avy! Raise the water, lower the water, I never know what to do! At least Ruto was the Water Sage, I can't marry the Water Sage. But it would have been nice if she, oh I don't know, **helped** a bit! She's a fish for Din's sake! She can swim! I can't! I have to put on the iron boots then take off the iron boots then...AARG!" Link seemed so frustrated and annoyed. Navi flew up to me and whispered "He's a little on edge, if you couldn't tell. Maybe do something for him that would cheer him up?" I nodded at her and dismounted of my horse.

I hugged him very tightly, even though he was wet. I could handle a bit of water. I think he was surprised at this, because it took him awhile before he hugged me back. After we were done hugging, I reached up to kiss him on the forehead. "I-I-I-I-I-I Uh..." He stuttered. "You need a break from all this, Link. Why don't you stay a while and rest before you go?" I asked him. I could hear Navi giggle on my shoulder. Links face turned tomato red. "I-I-I I would like that." Stuttered Link. "Great!" I said energetically. "Let's go then!" and we headed off to Kakariko Village.


	8. Chapter 8

Having Link with me all the time makes me so happy. Being with him is the best moments of my life. He and I go out on our horses and shoot targets and see who gets the most. Even though he has had more practice, I always win. I know he was about go save the world and everything, but maybe he could just stay for a little longer. He always leaves so soon, I almost never get to talk to him, or hang out with him.

Every morning, I steal some breakfast and then we go out to ride and shoot. He doesn't know that I steal the food, he doesn't know where I get it. He always asks me where I get the food, but I always find a way to change the subject. On this particular day though, he found a way to stay on topic.

"So where did you get breakfast, Avy? Want to tell me this time?" Link asked me. "What, you don't appreciate this breakfast of...half a loaf of bread? Okay neither do I, but you should be grateful for having food! Didn't the Deku Tree teach you manners? Is that how it worked? The Deku Tree was a parental figure?" I slyly changed the subject. "Oh actually-" I was about to have successfully distracted Link, but then Navi interrupted.

"She's changing the subject, Link." Navi pointed out. I glared at her. "Why can't you tell us where you got the food?" Link suspiciously looked at me. "Avy what's going on with you?" I nervously fidgeted with my hands and looked at my feet. "Avy...tell me now." Link warned. "I...kinda...stole it." Links mouth dropped. "Is that where you got that fancy pot?" I nodded "And that necklace?" I nodded again. "And this cutlery set and dishes?" "Yes I stole everything Link!" I have started to like stealing, I love the thrill of it, plus I get to keep whatever I find.

"Avy you can't just steal things!" Navi scolded. "How else am I supposed to eat? Everyone hates me, guys. Nobody will let me in any stores. Why do you think people yell at us when we walk around? Because they hate me. I have to eat!" I defended myself. Link looked rather angry at this point. "Well you don't need all of this other stuff! I can understand food, Avy. But why all of this stuff?" I sheepishly avoided his gaze. "Well...after awhile, it gets...kinda...fun." Link look very disappointed in me.

"Avy I can't believe you!" Link was very angry now. I can understand why. He was supposed to be riding the world of evil while his best friend is doing just that. It probably doesn't help that I lied to him, either. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you!" Link sounded so worried, it made me a little happy, even though now I felt ashamed. "Gods, Avy. You're acting like a...ah..." My shyness turned into anger. I knew what he stopped himself from calling me.

"What am I acting like, Link? A Gerudo? Gee whiz, that's not like me at all! I sure am glad none of us are Gerudo! They are awful human beings!" I sarcastically said. I was very angry at him, I don't think I've ever been angry at him before. My face was red with anger, and I could feel tears in my eyes. Link looked sorry, he looked upset. I didn't care at this point. I was so mad I didn't care how much he was hurt.

"That's not what I-" Link started. I ran out of the house before he could finish. I didn't want to hear it. I thought he was the only one who didn't see me as a Gerudo traitor thief. When I entered the town, I could hardly hear the voices talking to me, or should I say yelling at me. All I could hear was what it would sound like if Link finished that sentence. _"You're acting like a Gerudo, Avy! That's what I hate about you!"_ I had to hold back tears from streaming down my face. Everyone hated me because I was a Gerudo, and now Link hated me too, the only person who didn't hate me. I didn't know how to handle that thought.

Just as I was about to mount Farore, Link came running after me. "Avy, please! Let me explain!" I couldn't look at him, I had noticed I was crying, I couldn't let him see. "Avy, I was going to say that, but not in the way that you think." Link tried to walk closer to me, I stepped back,he couldn't see me cry. "I meant Gerudo thieves, Avy. The ones that are evil, Avy! The ones that follow Ganondorf!" It took all my strength to cry softly. "Avy, I never meant to hurt you I just...look the Gerudo are our enemy now, I just...I was angry okay? I didn't mean anything I said. Please forgive me." He touched me shoulder. I couldn't stop myself from crying. He turned me around and hugged me, whispering "I'm so sorry, oh gods I've messed up." to me.

He didn't understand. A part of me wanted to be a Gerudo, and now that he says he doesn't like them...I could never be one. I could never join them and feel that respect I've always wanted. I wasn't crying because he (Almost) called me a Gerudo Thief, I was crying because Link would always hate a part of me, the part that wanted to be that Gerudo Traitor he hated so much. The part of me that loved to steal. The part of me that dreamed of living out my days in a sun-baked desert for the rest of my life with people who would actually like me. He would always hate the part of me that wanted to be happy.

When I was done crying, Link crouched down to look me in the eyes. "Do you forgive me?" He asked me in the sweetest tone I had ever heard him speak to me in. I nodded, and he smiled the biggest smile I've seen. He kissed me on the forehead, awkwardly. "I'm gunna kill him." I said, still shaking and angry. Link looked confused and worried. "I'm gunna find Ganondorf, and I'm going to kill him!" My fists clenched. "Avy..." He started. He sounded like a father who had to tell his child that his dog died. "Ganondorf...it's good that you want to help, but only me and the power of the six sages can defeat him. He's too powerful, Avy. You would get killed."

I chuckled to myself. "Dying doesn't sound like such a bad idea." I mumbled quietly to myself. Obviously not quiet enough, because Links face turned from counseling to worried. "Avy you're-" "I'm fine Link." I brushed him off. "Avy!" "Fine, Link! I'm fine!" I walked back to the village. "Let's go get Navi, get on our horses, and shoot some things okay?" I demanded. "But-" "Lets. Go. Shoot. Some. Things. Okay?" I sounded more demanding this time, as if to say stop talking about this in the tone of my voice. Link hesitated, but nodded in agreement after a while.

When we got back to the village, something horrible had happened. The buildings were on fire, and Navi flew towards us. "Link. Sheik is...!" Navi was too distracted to finish her sentence. A person in blue and white was standing in front of the well, looking inside it. Link looked surprised to see this person, and rushed towards them. I followed, asking Navi what was going on. Navi was too distracted by burning buildings and a blue and white person to answer. Link ran up the steps and asked this person what was happening. I stayed at the bottom of the steps, I had a feeling something bad was about to happen.

"Get back, Link!" The person said. Judging by the way the person and Link talked to each other, I think they knew each other for a while. Suddenly, the top part of the well came flying off, and landed right behind me. "Avy, are you alright?" Link asked me. I nodded, it hadn't hit me. All of the sudden, the blue and white person was flying around, as if something was grabbing them and tossing them around. "Sheik!" Navi and Link cried together. This 'Sheik' landed right beside me, I bent over to see if they were okay. Link came over, too. "He looks okay to me." Link said. We could see no damage on him. "We should get him some potion, if he is hurt." I said. Link nodded. As Link stood up, we saw something on the hilltops, it looked like a shadow.

The shadow slid across the hills, and slithered down to the ground. "Avy, get back, I don't want you hurt." Hearing him say that gave me comfort even at a time of such fear. Link readied his sword, about to do what looked like a spin attack. The shadow approached him, head on. Not caring about Link. Just as it had done to Sheik, The invisible monster picked Link up, and threw him around. He flung him into the shooting gallery, and his back made an unpleasant crunching noise. "LINK!" I shouted. I was terrified about if he was okay or not, I couldn't tell. I tried to run to him, but the Shadow beast picked me up too. Instead of tossing me around, he just flung me into the windmill. That's the last I remember before I blacked out.

I felt something stroke my hair. After a while I could faintly hear a persons voice. "Y...Vy...Vy...Avy...Avy!" I realized it was Links voice. He sounded distraught. I slowly opened my eyes. My head hurt. I looked up, there was Link and Navi, staring down at me. "Oh thank Nayru! You're okay! I was worried the potion wouldn't help! Avy, I'm so sorry." Link was talking so fast, I could barely understand him. "W...what..." I started to say in a meek voice. Link explained what had happened after I blacked out. The evil shadow spirit has broken the seal that the fifth sage Impa had put on it, and that's what had attacked us. Impa had gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it again, and Link needed to help her. "I'm coming with you this time." I insisted.

"No, Avy. You can barely walk. You look more out of it than Honey and Darling do when they look at each other. You are in no shape to go." Link pushed me back into his arms, I had tried to get up. "But I can do it! I'm not hurt that bad I could do it! I'm strong Link!" I insisted. Link sighed. "I know you are, Avy. But this is too much for you now. In the condition you're in, you can't handle monsters and traps and evil undead things and-" "You said evil undead things." I said. Link gave me a look of confusion, then nodded. "You mean to tell me that there is going to be evil-undead-horrible-scary-mother-of-din-crap-your -pants-then-die-from-fear zombies?!" With each word my voice raised in pitch.

"Yeah, Avy. Especially this place. It's the _Shadow_ Temple. This is bound to be dark and scary." My eyes widened. As much as I wanted to go with Link, the thought of thousands of zombies and Redeads and stalchildren and bubbles and stalfos and gibdos...oh gods. I couldn't take it. "I'll stay here! You're so right! I'll rest here! You go get 'em, tiger!" Link gave me a strange look, chuckled a bit, and lifted me up. He carried me back to the house. He set me down on the bed, and tucked me in.

"I got you some food,_ legally_." Link said. I rolled my eyes. I looked to my left, and there was a stack of food. I have never seen such variety. I was stunned at the amount of food that was there. "Link, thank you." I said. "I saw how skinny you are when I was healing the wound on your stomach." Link said shyly. "Whoa, you took my dress off?" Link looked embarrassed and guilty. "N-N-No, I had t-t-to, t-that's not..." Link stuttered. I laughed. "I know Link, don't worry you're safe." I smiled at him. He exhaled in relief.

"Anyways, I saw how skinny you were. I knew you were skinny, but I could see each one of your bones through your skin. You said it was hard for you to get food. So from now on, I'm getting you food, and you will eat healthy." Link demanded in the nicest way possible. I chuckled. "If I'm getting this much food, I'm okay with this! Thank you, Link." "You're welcome. Link sat up. He told me he had to head for the Shadow Temple now. He took out his ocarina and began to play. "Wait, what are you doing?" I asked him. "...Teleporting to the Shadow Temple." He said, confused. "You're going to TELEPORT?!" I was shocked. Since when could Link Teleport? "I do it all the time!" He said as he began to play a song. When the song was done, a bunch of purple sparkles swirled around him. "Do you always teleport using fabulous purple magic sparkles?" I could hear his laughter as he teleported away.


	9. Chapter 9

Link has been gone for a while, longer than I think he was planning on going. I have eaten all the food Link gave me, and knowing him, he wouldn't let me steal any more. I guess the Shadow Temple is more difficult than he expected. I'm more worried for him than I have ever been before, that shadow monster is really evil, and Link couldn't even touch it.

Ever since Link and I had that argument about stealing, I've been contemplating joining the Gerudos. I know Link said they were his enemy, but if he had a friend, a spy, to tell him what the enemy is planning, it could help him a lot. I feel so useless, just sitting here and waiting for him to come back. It may risk Link being angry with me, but at least I won't just be sitting here twiddling my thumbs.

I waited as long as I could for Link to come back. I wanted to tell him my plan, but he took so long, and I just couldn't wait. Honestly I was much too excited to do any more waiting around, so I left the deceased gravekeeper house and headed for Gerudo Valley. I had never been to Gerudo Valley, I only know that's where they live because Uncle told me once. I remember him saying it was a desert, and I don't know of any other deserts in Hyrule, so the first desert that I find will probably be Gerudo Valley.

After a while of riding I found what looked like an entrance to a desert. It seemed that I could take Farore with me, so I did just that. When I entered, there was a small waterfall and a ditch right in front of me. There was a plank over the ditch filled with water. I carefully moved Farore over the plank, which was not an easy task. Farore, just like me, is afraid of water. She could tell we were above it, and would try to back up every time I got a little too close to the edge of the plank.

When we had successfully crossed the bridge, there was a beautiful, hot, wonderful desert in front of us. I instantly felt at home. There was an even bigger ditch with water at the bottom, with a bridge to get across. As I got closer to the bridge, I noticed it was broken. The bridge was impossible to cross, or so I thought.

I had almost forgot that I had Farore with me, one of the most excellent jumpers I've ever seen. I thought I would take a chance and see if she would jump across, if she didn't, we would both drown. I was rather worried while I backed my horse up to get a running start. "Alright, Farore, we got this." I whispered to my horse. I wasn't comforting my horse, I was trying to calm myself down. I picked up as much speed as I could, and Farore jumped just when I needed her too. It took me awhile to catch my breath before continuing on.

When I got across, I saw a small white tent and an angry-looking man in front of it. I dismounted, went up to the man, and asked where I was. "You're in Gerudo Valley, you should know this Gerudo Thief!" He replied. I ignored the rudeness in his tone. "Who are you?". He looked at me with annoyed eyes. "I am a master craftsman. I am here because I want to fix the damn bridge you Gerudo thieves broke, but all my workers went to join the Gerudo's gang!" _"I asked you who you were, not your life story._" I thought to myself. I thanked the man and got on Farore again, then headed to Gerudo Fortress.

Inside it was magnificent. It was so wonderfully warm, and so wonderfully dry. I couldn't feel a single drop of moisture in the air, and I loved it. I rode Farore around, looking for a Gerudo who seemed to be in charge. I found one guarding a large gate, she had short hair, round ears, and had skin and eyes like mine. I dismounted and walked up to her. "What do you want?" she asked me in a demanding voice. I was suddenly nervous. "I-I-I I would like to join the tribe...please?" I stuttered. "What, you ain't already?" I shook my head. She looked at me for a while, then said "Oh yeah, now I see it, you're not a full Gerudo are ya? Those ears and that nose is Hylian." I nodded.

"Well kid, I can let you in if you show me you are truly powerful. You good at horseback riding and archery?" She asked me. "Oh really really good! I've even got my own bow and my own arrows!" I pulled out my bow to show her, she didn't look as impressed as I thought she was going to be. "Alright, bring that horse of yours and that bow of yours and follow me." I pulled Farore along with her reins as I followed the woman.

She led me up a long path, at the end of the path was a bunch of targets. "Once the horse starts galloping, you can try to shoot the targets with your arrows." She explained. "Let's see how many points you can get. You get twenty arrows." "Okay, no problem!" I said. "If you can score 1 500 points I'll let you into the gang." She said. I nodded and mounted Farore. I had butterflies in my stomach, I wanted to be apart of the Gerudo thieves, but I knew it was going to be hard, and I prayed to the gods thousands of times in my thoughts to help me not mess up.

"Ready, set, GO!" said the Gerudo woman. Farore started to gallop, and I hit the pots in front of the targets first. I didn't know if they were worth points, but I figured I would try anyways. I hit all the targets and pots. Then up ahead, there was a tall target. I shot the tall one as many times as I could. Farore, circled around and I hit the first targets again. I didn't use up all my arrows, because there was another tall target that I had to hit. I used the last of my arrows on the last tall target, and it was over.

I went back to the woman. "1600 points! I'll be damned! You are the true master!" I sighed in relief. Did this mean I was a member now? "Congratulations, kid! But, I don't think your ready yet..." She said. I was so disappointed, I didn't understand what I did wrong. "I haven't seen your thieving skills yet! Tell you what, if you can steal something from the exalted Nabooru, our leader, then I'll know you are really ready!"_ "All I have to do is steal something? Sweet! Now you totally got this Avy!"_ I thought to myself.

"The exalted Nabooru is in the Spirit Temple, that's her headquarters." She told me. "You can get there by that gate I was guarding. Come on, I'll show you." She lead me to the gate, and opened it for me. "Now kid, It's going to be really tough getting there. To get through the desert, you need to pass the two trials." She told me. "The first trial is the river of sand. You can't walk across this river. So you're going to have to find another way of getting over it." I nodded to tell her I understood. "The second trial is the phantom guide. Once you have past the first trial and followed the flags we set up, you're going to need to pass this one. Those without eyes that can see the truth will only find themselves returning here. Do you have eyes that can see the truth?" She asked.

"I don't know." I replied. "I've never been in a situation where I needed eyes that can see the truth." She thought for a while. "Well, I guess you're going to find out. Off you go! Good luck, kid!" She said. This wasn't a very comforting thought, but I guess there wasn't anything I could do about it. I headed into the desert, nervously shaking while doing so.

When I entered the desert, there was the first trail, waiting for me. It appeared to be just as the Gerudo woman had said, a river of sand. The sand looked like it was sinking fast, so I assumed you would get swallowed by it. I could be wrong about how it looked like it was sinking, though. There was sand blowing everywhere, and it was hard to see. I looked at the river, it looked more narrow on one side, so I decided I would try to jump across. I took a deep breath, and leaped over. I almost fell in the river, but I dug my nails so far into the sand on the other side it stopped me from falling in. _"One down, one to go. You can do this, Avy."_ I thought to myself, trying to calm myself down.

Just as the woman said, there were flags around the desert, telling me the way. I followed them until I came to a stone structure._ "I guess this is the phantom guide part."_ I headed towards it. I went up the spiral slope leading to the top, and at the top there was a large ghost. When I reached the top, the ghost said a little rhyme and lead me into the desert. I had no choice but to follow him as he said "I'll be your guide on your way, but coming back, I won't play! I'll show you the only way to go, so follow me and don't be slow!"

I followed him as he did twists and turns around the desert, and finally I reached two flags marking the end of the desert _"Gods, I did it! I passed the desert! Now I just need to steal something from the Nabooru chick and I'll be done!"_ the sand in the air was gone, and there was even a little spot that looked like a giant dried up puddle. I walked towards the biggest thing in this entire area. It was a giant statue of the Goddess of Sand, a Gerudo God. "This must be the Spirit Temple, I should pray to the Goddess of the Sand while I'm here, how convenient!" I said out loud.

I walked up the steps and entered the temple. Inside there were big snake statues with writing on them, but I never learned how to read, so I couldn't see what it said. I was about to walk up the steps in front of me, but two pots magically flew at me. I ducked before they could hit me. _"Please, please, please let Nabooru not have heard that."_ I hoped. When I went up the stairs, there was a woman crouching to look inside a small hole.

I walked up to her, hoping it wasn't Nabooru. She turned around, and to my surprise, it was her. She was a Gerudo, and she was wearing very expensive looking clothing, so she must have been Nabooru. "Whataya want, kid?" She asked me. "Oh! Um...I.." I tried to find an excuse to make, but I couldn't think of one. "Wait, you're a Gerudo! Why aren't you wearing any of the uniforms?" She asked me. "B-Because I'm not a real Gerudo." I said, ashamed. "Oh, now I see it, you have the pointy ears of the Hylians, and it looks like you got their nose as well." I nodded sheepishly.

"Oh I get it, this is one of those initiation things right? A girl set you to steal something from me didn't she?" I guessed she had caught me, so I decided to confess. "Damn her, always trying to..." Nabooru muttered to herself. "Look kid, you don't actually have to do this. That girl who sent you here just really hates me, she always does that to newcomers who have potential. She thinks she can get someone to steal from me. Don't worry, kid. I'll give you a membership! You did really well if you could get passed the Haunted Wasteland!" She handed me a piece of paper, I don't know what it said on it, but I knew what it was for.

"I'm a member now?" I asked her. "100%, kid!" I smiled from ear to ear. "HELL YEAH!" I shouted, then I remembered that Nabooru was my superior now, and I shouldn't act like that around her. But instead of scolding me, Nabooru just laughed. "I like you kid!" She patted me on the back. "Come on, I'll lead you back to your new home. When we got out of the Spirit Temple, Nabooru stopped to look at me.

"You remind me of an old friend I had." She told me. "Wait, could you be...?" She let her sentence trail off. "I could be what?" I asked her. "Oh Gods, you're her kid!" Nabooru smiled. My eyes widened. "You know my mother?" I had always wanted to know who my mother was. "The key word here is 'an old friend I** had**.' She's dead now kid, I'm sorry." I figured as much, but hearing that made me feel sad. It felt like I had always known she was alive, but I guess not. "Well, what happened to her? Why didn't she keep me?" I asked, hoping to finally know all the answers I've been looking for.

"Lemme tell you a story, kid." She sat down and motioned me to sit with her, I did just that. "When your mother went out to Castle Town to find a boyfriend, she wasn't very lucky. I loved your mother, kid. We grew up together, I knew everything about her, and she knew everything about me. Your mother didn't really understand that looks aren't everything, and I knew that better than she did. She found a good-looking guy and thought he was perfect, but he was really a giant asshole.

"When you were born, your mother wanted to keep you, but Ganondorf said that she wasn't allowed to. You had traits of both a Gerudo and a Hylian, you fathers genes were stronger than we expected. According to Ganondorfs logic, you weren't a real Gerudo. Your mother had no choice but to leave you with your father. This is when we get to the part where your mother realizes that your father is a dick and should have listened to me when I told her to look at the guys personality first. your dad said he wanted nothing to do with you, and he refused to acknowledge your existence.

"Your mother was desperate to keep you safe, kid. She snuck you into the fortress and raised you until your first birthday. At this time, Ganondorf found out about you, and was really pissed. He took you from your mother and forced your father to take care of you. He killed your mother afterwards. Said she was going against the king. That bastard. Of course, your father still didn't care enough to help a poor one-year old. His brother owed him some favors, and he convinced him to take care of you. He was a drunk, I hope he stopped that when you came along."

I shook my head. I couldn't look at Nabooru, I was crying too much. I don't think I did a very good job in hiding that though, because Nabooru put her arm around me and spoke to me in a sweet voice. "I'm sorry kid. I'm so sorry." We sat there for a while, listening to my sobs. Nabooru finally said "She named you after herself, you know." I stopped myself from crying. I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Really?" I asked. "Really, your mothers name was Avyera, and you'll always have a bit of her with you. Always, kid." "Thank you so much, Nabooru, thank you!" I gave her a hug, and she hugged me back. "I'm so glad you turned out to be such a great kid, Avyera. You're just like your mom." "You can call me Avy, if you want." I offered. Nabooru smiled. "I think I will. It's funny, your mom liked to be called the same thing."


	10. Chapter 10

Being a Gerudo is harder work than I thought. The training took weeks, and I'm still exhausted. They taught me how to use swords, and what my job is. I think the hardest part is missing Link.

I haven't seen him in a long time, and I'm worried that he's hurt. I don't even know if he's alive or not. My worries vanished though, one day guarding the fortress and in walked in Link. I wasn't sure what to do, I knew he wouldn't recognize me, but I had to see him somehow. I couldn't just walk up to him, men were seen as worthless. I decided to wait and see if I could sneak a chat with him.

My job is to guard the jail cells, so I hoped that Link would get captured. Although I knew he would be captured because we are obviously very capable of doing so, I worried he would get away, but only a bit. I wasn't so sure where we would put him though, we had just imprisoned some carpenters who tried to join us, silly men. I decided to guard the occupied cell with a cell that had a broken door beside it, maybe somebody would figure out how to fix that and throw Link in there.

I waited in the shadows for something to happen. Then I heard the carpenter say "Hey you! Young man, over there! Look over here, inside the cell!" This meant there was somebody here, I waited to see if I could hear who it was. "I have no idea where you come from, but you must have a lot of guts to make it past all the guards around here!" The carpenter said. The other person said nothing, so I couldn't tell if he was talking to Link or not. I tightened my ponytail keeping my long red hair back in preparation.

"All of my fellow carpenters are imprisoned somewhere in here. If you can get us out of here, we'll repay the favor somehow!" The carpenter pleaded. "I know, I've already saved Ichiro." The voice sounded like Link. _"That's Link! Yes!"_ I thought to myself._ "Wait, he said he saved __**who**__? Oh hell no. freaking men always ruining everything!"_ I have never been more mad at him. I decided to wait for the right moment to attack him, or at least surprise him. I continued listening to their conversation.

"But be careful! There're sure to be Gerudo guards somewhere around here..." Said the carpenter. "Woo! Watch out!" The prisoner cried. Dammit, he saw me. I had no choice but to come out of my hiding place. I immediately glared at Link and yelled "You let them **GO**?" Link pulled out his sword. "Oh for Din's sake, Link!" I said, annoyed. I pulled off the red piece of cloth covering my face to show him who I was.

Link looked shocked, but happy. "Avy? We've been looking for you!" Navi whirled around my head. I ignored her and kept my glare focused on Link. "Why did you let him go? He was not yours to set free." I said in a quiet voice. "Avy what..." Link's shocked yet happy look turned into anger when he realized what was happening. "Hey Avy, can we talk about how you disappeared maybe? No, actually, let's talk about why you're a damn Gerudo thief!" He yelled at me. I decided to scold him after I explained what happened, he deserved to know.

"I got tired of it all Link. I just wanted to fit in." I calmed down with each word. "For Din's sake, Avy! I thought you were dead! Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Link sounded frustrated, as I can understand. "I couldn't wait any longer! I was out of food anyway and you said you didn't want me to steal-" "Oh yes, Avy. That's what you should do if you run out of food. You should just join a band of **THIEVES** instead of **STEALING IT**." His face was red with fury. I was getting angry again, too. How **dare** he say that to me. He of all people should know the need to find a place where you fit in.

"Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, princess! Sorry for trying to help you!" I yelled back. "Helping? How in Farore's name is joining the enemy going to help me Avy? All it's going to do is make my best friend fight against me!" Navi had left, she had tried to see if she could calm us down, but gave up. "It helps you by me gaining their trust and then finding you to tell you all of Ganondorf's plans!" I tried to explain. "Wow, jeez thanks Avy! I'm sure glad you told me that! So Avy, what does Ganondorf have in store for me?" Link said sarcastically. I looked at the ground sheepishly.

"I...any lower guards can't know about Ganondorf's plans.." I admitted. "Yeah. Okay. You know what? We are leaving. Let's go." He grabbed my arm and pull me towards the exit. I yanked my arm out of his grasp. "Um, no we are not. I like it here." I told him. "I don't care what you think of this place! I'm not having you work for Ganondorf!" He yelled at me. "How **dare** you. You are not mine to decided where I go. You know who is someone's to decide where he does? Ichiro the carpenter. He was mine to decide his fate. You had not right to do that! Now I have to go find him, and I have to imprison you! Nabooru will never let me live this down thanks to you!" I pulled out my two swords.

"Avy, you can't just imprison men for being men!" Link tried to convince me. "Link, please come along quietly, I don't want to hurt you." I said to him. Link looked more furious than ever. He pulled out his sword and said nothing. "So that's how it's going to be? Fine then." I lunged towards him. We fought for what felt like forever, and finally he pinned me to the ground. "Holy Nayru you're strong." I said. I wanted to kick him or hit him, but he had his legs and arms holding down mine. I was powerless. I hated it. "Will you come back to Kakariko with me now?" He asked, slightly less irritated than before.

"Link, why can't you see? I'm _happy_ here. Before I met you, my first friend, happiness was an alien concept. Then I had you, but you were only around every so often. I was alone, Link. All those times you had to go save the sage of whatever I had to sit alone. I didn't have anyone. I've never had anyone. This is the first time I have people who like me. I have a best friend who I can call my pseudo mother. Her name is Nabooru. We live together, we talk all the time, she cares for me and I care for her. I've never known what it's like to have a mother, and now I finally have it. I can't just leave that all behind." Link's face softened into sadness.

"Avy, I'm sorry. I should have figured that out. I know how you feel-" Link tried to comfort me, but I stopped him. "What do you know about loneliness, Link? Nothing. Yes you were the social outcast of the Kokiris, but you had people who cared for you. You had Saria, that girl never ever for a second doubted you. You had the Deku Tree. He cared for you, he loved you. That's a gift you don't even know you have, Link. What about Navi? She never leaves your side. She is the most loyal companion you could have. Malon, Princess Zelda, Talon, the cucco lady, for Nayru's sake everybody you meet loves you! Yeah okay, you are doing all of this and you are the only one with problems like yours. I will say that can feel pretty lonely. But you have not felt truly alone until everyone you see hates you. You have not felt truly abandoned until neither your father nor your uncle even cares about you. You have not felt truly paranoid until the only friend you have goes out on a life endangering quest and you have to sit on your hands and wait to see if he dies or not. You have no fucking idea, Link."

Tears were rolling down my face at this point. I couldn't help but cry. By now Link had removed his grip on my hands and legs, so I was able to hide my face. Link gently removed my hands and turned my face towards his. "You're right, I don't know what it's like. I do know what loneliness feels like on some level. I'll never even begin to understand what you've been through. Gods, I've been acting like I do. I'm the worst friend ever huh?" I chuckled a bit and shook my head. "No you're not, Link. You're the-" My sentence was cut off by Link kissing me.

So this is what a kiss feels like. His lips felt soft against mine. I didn't know what I was doing. I just copied what he was doing and went with the motions. I didn't know I wanted this, I didn't know I even felt romantically towards him, but how could I know? I've never liked someone like that. Maybe I always felt this way. None of that mattered now, because I'm sure as hell that I feel that way about him, and I'm pretty damn sure he feels that way about me.

"Wow. I leave for thirty minutes, and you guys start doing it. I wanted you two calm down, not to make babies!" Navi's voice came from the exit. Link immediately rolled off of me and we both stood up quickly, we were very embarrassed. "Navi, we weren't doing_ that_." Link said shyly. "Sure, kiddo, sure. Just try to keep it in the pants until we save the world, alright?" Navi said condescendingly. We both laughed and Link nodded his head in reply.

"So that's why you're here then? To find the next Sage?" I asked Link. "Yeah. Know of any weird things happening around here?" "Ah...I'm not sure. You could try asking Nabooru. She's in the Spirit Temple. I can take you there if you want!" Link nodded in reply. "OKAY! From now on, you're in!" I said enthusiastically. Link looked at me, confused. "You're a member of the Gerudo's!" Link still looked clueless. "But I thought men couldn't join." He asked. "Only if they aren't powerful! But you are very strong, Link. I'm sure you'll be a fine thief!" I said proudly. Link laughed "Well okay then." He said as I handed him a Gerudo membership card. "To the Spirit Temple?" I asked. "To the Spirit Temple."


	11. Chapter 11

I grabbed Link's hand and we headed out to the gate. We had trouble explaining to the other Gerudos that Link was a member now, but once I told them that Nabooru said he was powerful enough, they stopped asking questions. She didn't of course, but they wouldn't let him in if I told them I decided it.

"Hey, Newcomer!" The guard in front of the gate said. "And hello Avy!" I smiled at her and said hello. "We need to go to the Spirit Temple." Link told her. She looked at him with a skeptical look. "Um, it's kinda dangerous for Newcomers, especially_ men_." I stepped in to the conversation. "He's got me! I crossed the Haunted Wasteland before I was a member!" She thought for a couple of seconds. "You are the master archer around here..." Link gave me a look of approval, I nodded my head in thanks. "Well I won't try to stop you, You'll be fine Avy, but I can't say the same for your lover boy over there."

I was confused and worried at the same time. "What makes you think that?" I didn't like the thought of rumors spreading around about me, and if someone saw us back when he kissed me, Link might not be allowed to be a member anymore. They would think I lied about Nabooru (Which I did) and let him in because we were together. "He's the guy that Nabooru says you always talk about! You got quite the crush on him, according to Nabooru."

I saw Link smirk, and my face went red. "Well, we will be fine. Could you open the gate?" She rolled her eyes and opened the gate. "Don't get killed!" She said cheerfully as we walked into the Wasteland.

"Gods it's windy!" Link pointed out. "I can't see anything!" "That's the hardest part of crossing this place, I think. The fact that it's so hard to see." I said to Link. We came across the river of sand, and I explained to Link what it is. "When I come here to visit Nabooru, I just jump over." Link gave me a look. "I can't jump over that! Here, I'll use my hover boots." He took out a pair of brown boots that were gold on the bottom and had golden wings at the back. "What are those?" I asked him. "I told you, hover boots! They make me levitate for a short time. Here, I'll show you."

He pulled me towards him and then lifted me up, causing me to shriek in surprise. He walked over to the river of sand, then I realized he was just going to walk over. "Link, we're going to fall, what are you doing?" I asked him. "Oh come on, you don't think I would just walk off do you?" I looked down, we were levitating above the sand. "Have some faith in your lover boy, would you?" Navi chuckled, I was too amazed to laugh. "How did you...?" "Jeez, Avy. What did I tell you! The freaking hover boots girl!" He said. Link put me down and then gave me a little kiss. I blushed and looked away.

"So, you've talked about me?" He asked as we followed the poles to the next trial. "Y-Yeah,I guess." I said nervously. "He never stops talking about you! Every time we leave you he doesn't shut up." Navi said jokingly. Link and I laughed a bit, then he said. "So...should I take that to mean...you've always felt...the same way that I do...for you?" He said slowly. I played with my long ponytail nervously. "I-I don't know." I told him. "I've...never_ liked_ someone before. I don't know if that feeling I got in my stomach every time I saw you was what it was like to have a friend or have a crush. All I know is...every time you leave, I get really sad, and when you are in trouble, I get really scared, really_ really_ scared. More than I do with anybody. And..I feel...I don't know. I don't know what I feel when you kiss me. It's like that stomach feeling I get, but bigger."

Link stopped walking and held my hands. "That's a yes." He smiled at me, then he kissed the top of my forehead. Navi flew right in the middle of us" 'Ey! Keep the sexy times to a minimum, okay? We gotta save Hyrule and whatnot!" And she flew off. "She sounds a little irritated." I pointed out. "Think she's jealous?" Link laughed. "I dunno. Maybe!" Just then, we came to the second trial, the Phantom guide.

"Well don't just stand there you two! We gotta follow the guide!" I said once we reached the top of the stone tower. I jumped off the tower and followed after the phantom. Link followed behind and asked "But there isn't anybody there!" "You need eyes that can see the truth to see him! I guess I do." Link had caught up to me now, he looked confused. "Wait, eyes that can see the truth is something that can only be done by certain people, people connected to the Sheikah! How is it that you can see him without using this?" He asked as he pulled out a lens from his pocket.

"What is that?" I asked him. "The lens of truth! It gives any non-Sheikah people the ability to see things for what they are. The Sheikah are all gone except for two. Impa and Sheik. How do you have power of the Sheikah when you aren't one?" I looked at him suspiciously. "Look, I don't know who these _Sheikah_ people are, but I _can_ see him. Maybe I have some special powers or something I don't know." Link still looked confused. "If you could see him, then you would have been able to see Bongo-Bongo."

"What in the name of the Goddesses are you talking about? What's a Bongo-Bongo?" I was confused now. "He's the thing that attacked us in Kakariko Village. Why couldn't you see him then but you can see this guide now?" I shrugged. "Maybe it's activated by will-power? The first time I used it I really wanted to see him, maybe I just had it in me all along and I didn't know how to use it." Link still looked confused, but dropped the conversation.

"End of the line!" I said once we reached the entrance to the Desert Colossus. "Come on!" I grabbed Links hand and we ran out of the Haunted Wasteland. "Here we are! Just over there is the Spirit Temple." I pointed to the large statue of the Goddess of the Sand. "Well, let's go!" Link said and ran towards it. "Link, stop!" I yelled at him. "We should sleep. It'll be dark soon." Link ran back to me and said "We can sleep in the Temple!" "Oh no, you don't want to do that." I told him. "Why not?" Asked Navi.

"The desert gets really cold at night, inside that Temple it's even colder. You want to keep as warm as possible." I explained. Link looked at me suspiciously. "Well we will be even colder out here with nothing to keep us warm! Especially you, your whole middle will freeze off!" It was true, my Gerudo uniform made my midriff exposed. "Well lucky for you, I brought this!" I said dramatically as I pulled out a sleeping bag from my pocket. "I use it all the time. keeps you warmer than the desert in summer! Indoors, anyway. I don't know how warm it will be outside."

"We will just have to keep each other warm, won't we?" Link said. Navi cleared her throat. "What about me?" Link took off his hat and put it on the ground. "Sleep in this! It's super warm." Navi flew into Links hat. "Wow, it's quite cozy in here!" Link closed the open part of the hat to keep the cold air from coming in. The sun had gone down, and it was nighttime. "Come inside the sleeping bag!" I called to Link, I was already inside. Link crawled into the bag. We held each other for more warmth. "This is nice, isn't it?" Link asked. I nodded. " Hey, Link..." I said sheepishly. "Yeah Avy?" "When this is all over...could you...stay...here...with me?" Link smiled at me. "Nothing would make me happier." I smiled back. Then we both drifted off to sleep.

I woke to the sound of Link and Avy talking. I was going to wake up, but they hadn't noticed I was up, and I wanted to hear what they were talking about. "How can she be sleeping in that sauna in this heat for so long? It's noon for Farore's sake! She should be burning by now!" Link said. "She can really sleep in, should we wake her up?" Navi asked him. Link sighed. "No, let her sleep, she looks so peaceful, I haven't seen her look peaceful in ages." "Link..." Navi asked. "Yeah Navi?" "Why now? Why did you tell her how you felt now? You could have told her long ago, you've felt that way about her since you first met her." Link thought a bit before answering. "I didn't want to hurt her."

"I always leave her, I don't want to, but she can't come with me. If she felt the same way about me she would always be at risk of losing her boyfriend. I didn't want to do that to her. I thought that if I kept my distance as a friend she would care less about me, and not be as heartbroken if I died. Of course, it was a stupid idea. She would have been heartbroken anyways. We were the only people who cared about her, she would have nobody if I left." "But there is still the risk of you dying now, it makes more sense for you to not tell her now because she has friends now. What in the goddesses name made you do it now?" Navi asked again.

"I couldn't fight it anymore, Navi. I just wanted her so badly. I mean, did you see her in her uniform? She looks beautiful. Not that she didn't look beautiful before, she's always looked beautiful. I realized either way, Avy will be heartbroken if I die, even if she has other people now to comfort her. It was probably so stupid of me to kiss her when I did, but I'm really glad I did." My heart was racing, it was hard to pretend I was asleep. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.

"Jeez, Link. You really like her." Navi said. "I..." Link started to say. "I love her." "I love you too." I said. I couldn't pretend to sleep any longer. I sat up and looked at Link, he seemed embarrassed. "I understand now,Link. This is what I feel. I feel...love. It's such a good feeling." Link looked embarrassed still. "How...how long have you been awake? How much of our conversation did you hear?" Link asked me nervously. "Enough." I said as I walked towards him. I sat down in front of him and he pulled my head in close to his. He kissed me passionately. And this time, Navi didn't interrupt.


	12. Chapter 12

I was worried when I noticed Nabooru was nowhere to be found. She goes out to the Spirit Temple for months, I didn't think anything could have happened to her, so when we stepped inside the Temple, I was shocked.

"I don't understand, how could she not be here?" I wondered out loud. "Well, maybe she went in another room." Link suggested. I shook my head. "There is no way she could have. The only way is to the right, which is blocked by a big rock nobody can move without the silver gauntlets." I explained. "Well maybe she found them." Navi said. I shook my head again and said "The silver gauntlets are in the spirit temple."

Link gave me an annoyed look. "Are you serious?" I nodded. "You have to go through this little hole over here. Nabooru was always trying to find ways of fitting inside." I let out a frustrated sigh. "She must have found a way in then." Navi said. Link and I nodded. "Actually, I might be able to fit in there." I said, looking at the small hole in front of us. "No way." Link demanded "I can't go in there with you, it could be dangerous." I gave him a look that said 'you've got to be joking'. "Do you want to save the world or not, Link?"

Link sighed. He knew this was the only lead we had to finding Nabooru, but he didn't like it. "Well...ah..." He tried to find a way out of the impending situation. "Link, she could be hurt. I can't let her die, you know what she means to me." I pleaded with him. Link sighed hesitantly. "I know. I just don't want you hurt." I hugged him and smiled. "I'm tougher than I look you know." Link stood there for a moment, hesitant to agree. "Okay fine." He finally gave in. "But take some of my items with you, just in case." I rolled my eyes at him "But you don't even know what's back there. I might not need them!" I argued. "I'm not letting you go without some extra help!" Link raised his voice at me. "I can take care of myself, Link! I did it for seven years! I was starting to get angry. "No, Avy!" I angrily walked off and sighed in frustration. I understood where he was coming from, but he still thought of me as who I was before I came to the desert.

Link sat on the steps and thought. I sat next to him and wrapped my arms around him. "Please." I begged. Link sighed. While we were sitting there, I noticed a big sign beside the steps. "What's that say?" I asked Link. "What?" "That sign there, what does that say Link?" Link looked up to face the sign. "I don't know. I can't read Gerudo, can't you read it?" He asked me. I shook my head. "I never learned how to read." Link looked shocked. "You didn't?" I shook my head again. "That's okay you guys! I can read it for you!" Navi offered.

Navi flew over to the sign and read it "If you want to proceed to the past, you should return here with the pure heart of a child, that's what it says." Link looked disappointed, he had hoped that it might say something about another way, so I didn't have to go by myself. Then, suddenly, Link got an excited look on his face. "That's it! It means that I have to be a child! Maybe if I go back to the Temple of Time, I can go back in time somehow and go through that hole as a kid! 9-year-old Link could fit through that hole!"

"Link, no." I said to him, annoyed. "We have to find Nabooru now, going back seven years won't do anything." Link looked disappointed. "You're right." He sighed. "At least take my items I could use as a kid, those will probably come in handy, since you are supposed to be a child." I nodded. He handed me his slingshot, his bomb bag (or as I called it, the blueberry bag), his deku nuts, his boomerang, and his deku sticks. I stopped him just before he gave me his entire inventory.

"Link this is enough, alright? I _am_ a trained fighter." I pointed out. Link looked worried. "Well, at least let me teach you the spells I have." he pleaded. I became intrigued. "Spells?" I asked. "Yeah. Here, I'll teach you Nayru's love, It'll protect you for a short time." I rolled my eyes. "Link I don't need that, I'm a _Gerudo_, I don't need protection." Link sighed. "Well, then maybe Din's fire? It creates fire all around you to defeat your enemys." I liked the sound of that. "Yeah!" He smiled at me. "Wait." I said. "Don't I have to have magical powers to use spells?" Link shrugged. "You have the power of the eye of truth, you must have some magical abilities." And then he lead me outside to teach me the spell.

Learning the spell didn't take long at all, and I mastered it within the hour. Link walked me back to the hole and I got ready to find Nabooru. "Before you go," Link said. "Take Navi with you, she can help." Navi flew over to me. "I would love to have her." I smiled. Navi giggled and flew around my head. Just as I was about to enter the hole, Link stopped me yet again. "Um...Avy." He sheepishly said. "Yeah?" I replied. He brought me towards him and kissed me. "Please be careful, okay?" He said in a soft voice. I smiled at him and kissed him on the forehead. "Of course I will, I always am." "...I love you, Avy." Link said to me in a quiet voice. "I...I love you too." He smiled. "When you get back I'll teach you how to read, alright?" I was excited, I had always wanted to learn. "Yes, please!" He kissed me again and I went on my way.


	13. Chapter 13

I slowly crawled out of the hole and looked at my surroundings. In front of me was a spikey thing going back and forth in front of a small flight of stairs. "What's that thing?" I asked Navi and pointed to the spikey thing. "It's a spike trap. Don't let it touch you." She warned. I nodded and maneuvered myself around the trap and up the stairs. Up the steps there was more spike traps, but they were circling a statue in the middle of the room. Before I had any more time to look at the room, a bat on fire flew at me. I quickly took out my swords and killed the bat. Still in shock, I barely had enough time to react to the other bat coming towards me. This one wasn't on fire, which made it easier for close combat. "What were those?" I said after I had killed the bats. "Those were fire keese. Well, the one that was on fire anyway. The normal one was just a keese." Navi told me. "Bats on fire. Right." I mumbled to myself in disbelief.

I took a moment to look around the room. On the back wall there were two 'keese' on some writing I couldn't read. "Use Link's slingshot. It's like the bow and arrow, but smaller." Navi suggested. I nodded and took out the slingshot. I took my aim and hit the first bat, then the other. Around the room there was two doors, both blocked by bars, and a small hole similar to the one that led me in here on the back wall. Beside the stairs leading to the closed doors were two torches._ "That's probably how the bats caught on fire."_ I thought to myself. "Should I go in the hole?" I asked Navi. "Nope. You gotta kill that guy in the middle."

"What? This statue?" I pointed towards it. "Yup." Navi said. "It's best to kill all the monsters in a room if there is anything hidden." I looked confused. "But it's just a statue." I leaned on it. "It's not-" The statue made a low growling sound and turned red. He hopped towards me and I jumped back in shock. "What the hell?" I shouted. "Use your bombs!" Navi shouted back. "Oh! Blueberries! Blueberries blueberries blueberries." I said to myself as I looked for the blueberries. "What?" Navi asked. I didn't answer her, instead I threw a blueberry at the statue and it blew up in his face. He stopped moving only for a moment before spinning around and exploding, thankfully away from me.

"Jeez, this place is weird, fire bats, moving statues, Link goes through a lot huh?" I said. Navi ignored me and asked "Why'd you call them blueberries?" "Oh yeah! Well, when Link showed me the 'bombs' for the first time I thought they looked like blueberries, and I like that name better!" I explained. Just before Navi could reply, the bars blocking the doors went up into the ceiling, leaving the doors free to be opened. "Which should I go through?" I asked myself. "I don't think it matters...or maybe it does..or..I don't know!" Navi responded. I shrugged and chose the door on the left. Almost immediately after I walked into the room a Stalfos jumped out at me.

I screamed and ran to the corner of the room and hugged my legs. "What are you doing?!" Navi shouted at me "Kill it!" I shook my head "Nonononononononono" "What? Avy what's up with you?" The skeleton lunged towards me. I crawled out of the way, forgetting all of my Gerudo training. "Undead things scare the hell out of me." I explained at quickly as possible in the meekest voice I've ever used. "Avy, it's just like a person, but without the flesh. You can kill it!" I shook my head again. "But that's just it, Navi. I can't kill it, it's already dead! It's not supposed to be moving!" Navi sighed and tried to reason with me as I crawled around the stalfos, trying to avoid its attacks. "Avy, Link's killed hundreds of these, they die, trust me!" I whimpered in disagreement. "Ugh.." Navi said, annoyed. Navi flew around me, thinking of what to do. "Oh! Use the deku nuts, Avy! That'll stun him and we won't be able to move!"

Trusting what Navi said, I grabbed the deku nuts and threw them at the skeleton. There was a bright flash, causing me to avoid my eyes. When I mustered up enough courage to look at the monster, he wasn't moving, and was all blue. I laughed in relief. "You can kill him now, Avy! But do it quickly, it wears off after a while." Navi encouraged me. My smile faded. "What do you mean it will wear off...?" I shakily said. The stalfos returned to normal, taking a slash at me. I screamed. "You have more, do it again!" I nodded and threw another deku nut, successfully stunning him. I hit him with my swords. He immediately returned to normal, but still waited a while before returning to combat. I smiled when I realized I had the power to kill him without being hurt.

As I gained more confidence, I started to talk to myself while hitting him. "HAHAHAHA. Got you again, Mr. Skelly!" He swung at me and I quickly dodged. "Aw, it's really cute how you think you can hit me." I teased as I threw another deku nut. "BOOM. Yet another hit on the evil guy but the wonderful Avyera!" I smiled, I was having more fun than I should. With a last strike on the stalfos, he fell backwards, then burst into a green flame. "Hahahaha! I won! I'm the best!" I shouted. I could hear Navi's laughter behind me. "What's so funny?" I asked her. "You're an entirely different person when you're fighting! You're all confident and funny and unafraid." Navi pointed out. I thought back to my actions "Yeah I guess you're right. Maybe it's-OH MY GODS!"

I turned around to see a large floating skull circling around a large pit. I had no time to finish my thought as I froze again. "I...It's a...a..bu...bubble." I stammered. Navi sighed, I could tell she was annoyed with my fears. "Just freeze him again!" Navi said impatiently. "But I can't hit him, I'll fall down!" I argued, backing away from the skull. "Use the slingshot after you throw the deku nuts at him." I nodded and did as she instructed. With just one seed from my slingshot, he was dead. I laughed again, feeling more comfortable without any undead creatures around. I looked past the wide gap, there was what looked to be a raised bridge, and a diamond behind it. "That switch must lower the bridge for you to cross!" Navi said. "What switch?" I said, confused. "That one! That diamond thing!" "That's a switch? How do I hit it? It's blocked by the bridge!"

"The boomerang! Link and I saw something like this in Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly!" I pulled out what to my guess was the boomerang. "You mean the bent banana?" I asked her. "...I guess? Why do you always think things look like fruit?" Navi questioned. "I dunno, I just do!" I giggled. Navi laughed too. "Throw the boomerang beside the bridge, it'll fly in a circle and hit the switch while coming back to you." Navi changed the subject. I nodded and did as she said. Just as she described it, the bridge came down after the banana hit the switch. I walked forward, forgetting about the banana. That was a mistake though, because it flew back to me and hit me in the face. "OW!" I shouted. Navi laughed. "Are you okay? You're supposed to catch it." She chuckled. I rubbed the spot where it hit me. "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't expect it to come back to me." We both laughed a while before crossing the bridge.

At the back of the room there was a small chest. I walked towards it only to have flying pots come at me. Without any thinking, I leaped over them, doing a flip in the air. Navi was stunned. "Wow, that was so cool, Avy!" I bowed and smiled. "Thank you." I opened the chest to find a blue rupee, nothing special. "Avy." Navi called after me as I walked to the door. "You seem so different now, you seem...happier. More comfortable." I smiled back at her. "It's because I am silly!" And opened the door. The door was blocked by more bars again after I closed them, so there was no turning back. In the room there was a small bridge part over a large gap, with a spike trap in the middle and a snake looking thing floating above it.

"What's that thing?" I asked Navi curiously. "Anubis. It's vulnerable to fire!" Navi explained. "Oh, well that's easy then. I'll just use the spell Link taught me. Just like we practiced, a circle of flame swirled around me, hitting the Anubis. It was engulfed in the flames immediately. After the snake-like thing was destroyed, all the doors were opened, I was free to explore more of the temple.


	14. Chapter 14

I immediately got a warning from Navi the moment I stepped into the next room.

"Watch for the shadows of monsters that hang from the ceiling." She said grimly.

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked her, looking up at the ceiling anxiously.

"There are these things called 'wallmasters'." Navi explained. "They drop from the ceiling and grab you then take you back to where you started! Look for its shadow; it will get bigger as it gets closer. Then kill it before it gets you!"

Before I could answer, I heard a swooshing sound. I looked down at my feet and noticed that my shadow was getting bigger. I scrambled around the room, but it followed my every move. Just before it landed I noticed the shadow had stopped moving, but only for a second. I took this opportunity to roll out of the way. I turned around to see a giant, dark hand crawling towards me. I quickly pulled out my sword and sliced at the wallmaster. It took a lot more hits than I thought it would, but it finally collapsed and died.

I took this opportunity of brief safety to view my surroundings. On the floor was a big red carpet with a torch beside it. There was also a big metal grate blocking a big hole in the floor, the only way out was past it, however. I needed to find a way to the other side- there was a door I had to get through. I noticed that there was multiple silver rupees scattered around the room.

"What's up with the silver rupees? I've never seen those kinds before." I remarked.

"Usually what happens with Link and me is when you collect all in a room something happens." Navi told me.

I nodded my head in agreement. I grabbed all the rupees on and around the grate - almost missing one behind the torch. Once I picked them up, the metal grate fell down, creating a bridge for me to cross. Ignoring the multiplekeese that flew around on this side of the room; I crossed the bridge and went into the next area.

Or I would have liked to, if Navi didn't stop me.

"Use the deku sticks to carry the fire from the torch that's on fire to the torches that's not on fire! You could get something useful!" Navi said, quickly and enthusiastically.

"W-what?" I said, startled by her sudden excitement. "Okay...?" I did as she asked.

Sure enough, once the torches were lit, a small chest appeared on the red carpet. I walked over to find there was a small key inside.

"Oh. That could be important. Thanks Navi!" I said to her as I made my way out of the room.

After I went through the door I noticed that we where in the same room as the beginning. We had come full circle.

"Well, no other way to go but in that hole." I said to myself, not realizing I had said it out loud.

I got on my hands and knees and entered. On the other side of the hole there was a small set of stairs and a locked door. I used the small key I almost missed in the previous room to open it. The next room had a bigclimbable wall with a spider on it.

"Does that have a name too, Navi?" I asked her, pointing to the spider.

"Yeah, it's called a Skullwalltula. Be careful not to touch it!" She answered.

I made a confused face at the strange name, and I tried to say it. "...Skullawalltalala?"

I heard a giggle from Navi. "Yeah, that's it." She said. I think she was using sarcasm, but I couldn't really tell. I just assumed that was the right pronunciation and climbed the wall.

At the top of the climbable wall was a big room that looked different from the rest of the temple. There was a big rock wall to the side, with some Skullawalltalala on it. There was a piece of the wall that looked somewhat detached, and looked like it was blocking something. On the floor there was a big square with a sun in the middle. Behind me was a chest, and when I opened it, I got an item that Navi said was called 'bombchus', but I liked to call them bomb rats, because they were bombs that looked like rats.

"What do they do?" I asked Navi out of curiosity.

"Well, when you set them down, they will crawl on the ground and walls, exploding when it hits something or when it runs out of time. I don't know how they are going to help you in this room though." Navi sounded disappointed in herself, I think she doesn't like not knowing things.

I looked at the piece of wall that looked detached again. "Maybe if I..." I trailed off into my own thoughts. I set the bomb rat down on the floor. It crawled up to the separated wall and exploded, making a light shine down into the room. The light hit the sun, and the suns face turn from a frown into a smile. That must have activated something, because the once blocked door behind me was now free to be entered.

Navi seemed impressed. "Wow, good job! I couldn't figure that out!" I smiled in thanks.

The next room was bigger than the other ones. The first thing I saw was another moving statue, but Navi assured me that this one was not alive. She checked at the bottom of the ledge we were standing on and told me to push the statue from it. It landed on a blue switch and that unlocked a door that was up the stairs next to me. Before I continued on, however, I jumped down and went to see the big statue of the Goddess of the Sand, I felt the need to pray.

After I was done, Navi spoke up. "Um...Avy?"

"Yeah?"

"This might be an awkward question,but I've wondered it for a while now."

"Hey don't worry about it, Navi! We're friends! Ask away!"

"Well...since you are half Gerudo and half Hylian... which Gods do you believe in? Can you believe in both, or is that bad?"

Navi's question was tough to answer. I thought for a while before saying anything. "Well, when I was a kid, I hated the Gods. They cursed me with this horrible life I had, but then I found you and Link. You guys showed me that there isn't just evil in this world. So I started realizing that the Gods were on my side, they brought you two into my life. I started getting very interested in them, disguising myself and asking people from other towns about their stories. I felt so blessed, I named my horse after the goddess of courage. It got kinda confusing when I joined the Gerudos, though. I had never heard of this 'sand goddess' and was worried she was a false idol. For a while I refused to believe in her, Ganondorf follows her, and I will never be like Ganondorf. But Nabooru reminded me that the Hylians worship many Gods and Goddesses, and the Goddess of sand was most likely an old god of theirs, they had no reason to worship her anymore if they did not live in the desert. So I guess I do believe in both, it just took me a long time to get there."

Navi was silent for a while. She finally spoke up in a small voice. "Sometimes I wish that Link and I could go back to when we first met you, and take you away from that life of yours. You didn't deserve that."

I smiled at her. "Thank you Navi. Yeah, I wish that sometimes too. But you guys did come back for me eventually, right?" I tried to lighten the mood, I could tell Navi was very upset.

"Yeah, seven years late. Link still beats himself up for that. He blames himself for everything that happened while he was in the chamber of sages."

_Oh gods, all this time. All I have been thinking about is myself, I've never once thought about how this is affecting Link. What I said to him back at the fortress..oh no. He just wanted to protect me. Dammit, Avy. _I thought to myself.

"I need to start getting better at understanding emotions. I could have avoided hurting Link back then at the fortress if I just understood other people." I admitted.

"You did a good job back there, when you told him how you felt." Navi said to me.

"How? I hurt him. I couldn't even see that I was hurting him." I said, ashamed.

"Sometimes, Avy, to make every person happy, we have to hurt other people's feelings." Navi explained.

I was silent for a while. I wasn't sure what to say and how to say it. I finally said something, but my voice was shaky and nervous. "I want you..to help me, Navi. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore, I want to understand what emotions are and how to control them. I didn't even know what love was for a long time, how am I supposed to know when other people are feeling it? All I understand is when people are feeling angry or sad or disappointed. Will..will you help me, Navi?"

Navi giggled. "Of course, Avy! You and Link are me best friends, I want you guys to be happy, and if this makes you happy, then I'll do it!"

I smiled and held her small body close to my chest. "Thanks." I whispered.


End file.
